Celta Vigo vs. Valencia: Preview

Valencia will aim to recover from their opening weekend defeat to Barcelona when they face Celta Vigo away on Friday night as part of their 2024-25 La Liga campaign. In their La Liga opener, the home team took the lead against Barcelona with a header from Hugo Duro, assisted by Diego Lopez.

However, Barcelona turned the game around with Robert Lewandowski scoring twice. Despite Valencia’s positive performance, they appear to be falling short of a top-four challenge. Their last Champions League appearance was in 2019, and they have finished 16th and ninth in their last two seasons.

Team Form and Head-to-Head

Valencia lost 2-1 to Barcelona in their season opener, while Celta Vigo secured a 2-1 win over Alaves, making them one of only four teams to win their La Liga debut. Celta, now in their 13th consecutive top-flight season, is targeting a top-half finish for the first time since the 2020-21 season, having finished 11th, 13th, and 13th in their last three seasons.

Claudio Giraldez’s side started their campaign positively on August 16, coming from behind to defeat Alaves 2-1, with goals from Williot Swedberg and Iago Aspas after Kike Garcia had initially given Alaves the lead. Celta have not beaten Valencia since September 2020. Valencia have won five of their last seven encounters, although the two matches last season ended in draws.

The Sky Blues have made three summer signings: Unai Nunez from Athletic Bilbao on a permanent transfer, and Borja Iglesias and Ilaix Moriba on loan from Real Betis and RB Leipzig, respectively. Celta will be aiming to improve their home form, having won only six of their 19 league matches at home last season.

Team News and Starting-XI

Photo byRuben LeijaonUnsplash

Celta’s Giraldez is expected to make changes from the lineup that faced Alaves, with Swedberg likely to start and Javi Rodriguez also expected to be included. Iglesias might be introduced in attack, while Aspas is set to retain his place in the starting eleven. Jonathan Bamba should also start despite being substituted in the last game. Luca de la Torre and Vicente Guaita are injury doubts for Celta.

For Valencia, Sergi Canos, Jose Gaya, Jaume Domenech, Fran Perez, and Mouctar Diakhaby are unavailable due to injuries. Baraja is likely to keep the same lineup from the Barcelona game, with Andre Almeida supporting Duro up front, and Mir continuing in a wide role. Cristhian Mosquera and Yarek Gasiorowski are expected to feature in the defense.

Celta Vigo Possible Starting Lineup: Villar; J. Rodriguez, U. Garcia, Dominguez, Mingueza; Alvarez, D. Rodriguez, Swedberg; Aspas, Iglesias, Bamba

Valencia Possible Starting Lineup: Mamardashvili; Correia, Mosquera, Gasiorowski, Vazquez; Mir, Pepelu, Guerra, D. Lopez; Almeida; Duro

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Article originally written by Jaineel Kariya